The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

The Other Woman joins the genre of relationship thrillers that started with Gone Girl. This one has a twist, however:the dread of every woman who meets her boyfriend's parents: a mother who doesn't like you.  

Emily meets Adam in the bar of a London hotel after attending a work conference. She's  reluctantly attracted to the tall, dark, handsome Adam after he rudely jumps in line ahead of her for drinks. He charms her, and soon they are dating. Emily quickly falls for Adam, and a few months go by before he agrees that it's time to meet his mother. Emily is really looking forward to it, but oh boy, she is in for a surprise. 

Pammie (this name just drove me nuts!) certainly seems like a lovely woman, and her sons Adam and James fuss over her. But she's not very welcoming to Emily-and only Emily sees it. Criticism masquerading as compliments, deliberate miscommunication, "accidental" texts sent to Emily that are critical. Emily feels like she can't win, and Adam won't hear anything bad about his mother. As their relationship moves along, Emily starts getting pissed, and determined to defeat Pammie. But oh, Pammie is pretty good at throwing chaos into Emily's big moments: passing out at Adam's birthday party as he proposes to Emily; making a dramatic announcement at Emily and Adam's rehearsal dinner the night before their wedding. You can't help but wonder what the heck Pammie is doing, and why she dislikes Emily so much. 

Of course, Adam is a bit of a jerk, and the whole time I'm reading this, I'm thinking Emily is a bit of a ding-dong for putting up with his crap. At what point does a woman let go of the dream and face the reality that the man she's with just isn't quite the one?

It wasn't hard to figure out what Pammie was up to, but the end was still a bit unexpected, and really good. I have to say I was annoyed at Emily during most of the novel. I felt that she was ignoring pretty big signs that maybe this wasn't the best relationship, and her desire to win the game over Pammie took over common sense and blinded her to everything else. 

The Other Woman  will be available on August 21, 2018 in hardcover, audio, and ebook. Perfect vacation read!

Rating:  4/6 for a different kind of thriller. Pammie has no shame doing her best to keep Emily and Adam apart. 

Thank you to Minotaur/St. Martin's Press for the review copy. 
#BewareofPammie 
#TheOtherWoman

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